#15 Europe Chapter 2 : €, EU, and Schengen visa

This is the last post of my 2nd European trip. I bit late actually. I thought i have scavenged every bits and drops of ideas i have about my trip? Until i found this posting on my draft. So….. here i finished it, so i can moved on to another topic peacefully.

Call me stupid, whatever…… Yes, i didn’t realized that Hungary is not using €, till i stepped out from the train! I knew there are some countries in EU, that are not using €. Actually, the connection between countries in Europe continent is not that simple. EU is not the only agreement they have. Their connection are more like layers, or some kind of complicated ven diagram.

That’s why, there some countries that not in EU, but using schengen agreement. Some countries are in EU, but not using schengen agreement. Some countries in EU but not using €. Some countries are far away from Europe continent, but joining EU and schengen. So…. checking the newest regulation is always important, don’t believe in blogs you have read. They might be out of date, inaccurate, or simply need some drama. Always find information from the official sources.

For example, on June 2016, when i put Romania on my itinerary, the country was not in schengen. And i didn’t realized it, till i have my itinerary almost done. So, i contact a Romanian friend, who also have no idea about it. He suggested me to email the Romania embassy, and i did. They responded me quite fast, they said, i can get in with my schengen visa. So, Romania is not in Schengen agreement yet, but they take schengen visa holder in.

They probably now in schengen agreement.

Romania, is in EU, but they’re not using €. They have their own currency, named Ron/Lei. I was aware of it, after having small hassle with the schengen situation. I don’t really remember why i was so sure that Hungary is using €. May be because Hungary is in EU for long time, or may be Romania have taken quite big chunk of my energy. Anyway….. i exchange some of my € to Ron, on the airport, in Bucharest. That was it, i exchange once for the whole trip in Romania. Everything was good.

I took night train from Sibiu (Romania) to Budapest (Hungary). I was arrived around 5AM in Budapest keleti budapest train station, without Hungarian currency (Forint/HUF)….. Great! I went to big tourist information center that supposed to be tourist friendly down stair to buy full day bus/tram ticket. But they didn’t take anything but HUF! To be honest, i feel that Budapest/Hungary is making so much efforts to attract tourist. My guide in Bucharest admitted that Bucharest, Budapest, and Prague indeed compete to attract tourist. But that lady in tourist information center, have different idea, i guess. I was thinking about dumping my bag into a locker cabinet, so i can freely wander around the city. Why? Because my hostel refused to keep my bag before check in time, yes…. it sucks! And it got worse, when i found the locker takes only HUF coins. Of course!!

I have read everywhere on the blogs, we better no exchange money in the train station. They rip us off. But guess what? I need HUF money desperately, so i went to the money exchange, just to find that it was too early, they haven’t open yet. Huahahahhaa!! Short story, i waited in Budapest keleti until around 7AM, to get some HUF, so i can buy day bus ticket.

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i’m just a girl who like to call myself “su”. Am i special? Yes of course, since i believe that everyone is special!! i love arts, now u know the reason why i put “so_the _arts” there, on front of this page. I’m abit crazy about freedom, and think myself as a free creature in this universe, if u see me as a caged creature, may God has mercy on me for my blindnes….
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